- Sociology
- Thinking Sociology
- Social Identities
- Culture, Knowledge and Belief
- Social Organization and Control
- Production, Inequalities and Social Division
- Digital Stories
Welcome to Sociology
The Study of Society.
Sociology focuses on identifying, explaining, and interpreting patterns and processes of human social relations. This introductory course is designed not just to teach you some of the major findings of sociology, but to help you master fundamental sociological skills, including the ability to think with a "sociological imagination" as well as integrate "technological fluency" with "informational literacy" utilizing basic computer-based data analysis—skils which have broad applicability in a range of educational and work settings.
Our goal in this class is for you to gain a different perspective of a diverse world often taken for granted and to gain new insight into the ways that society shapes people and the way people shape their society. Our objectives are directed at building competence as a critical thinker and change agent so that you will better able to raise relevant questions about the direction in which society is moving, interpret social trends, and examine significant social problems.
It is my hope that this hands-on experience of "doing" sociology will both enliven your interest in sociological analysis and help you develop practical skills that you can use in other contexts as well. We can best understand the process of social interaction when we understand the person in place and in time. Our syllabus sets the place, time and process of this course for you the person.
Welcome to my world, your world, our world.
Dr. Michael Thompson
Josh Jones
Critical Think Sociology
Joshua Jones
In Sociology you may be many things as an individual, but above all you are a social creature destined to live your life with other people in society. Your relationships with others lie at the core of your existence. You were conceived within a relationship, were born into relationships, became genuinely human in relationships, and live your life within relationships. You cannot be a human all by yourself. What you think, how you feel, and what you say and do are fashioned by your interaction with other people in group settings. It is the web of meanings, expectations, behavior, and institutional arrangements that result when people interact one another in society that is the stuff of sociology. Sociology is the scientific study of society, and more particularly, the study of human organization – not just formal organizations.
Its important to study because sociology illuminates the human experience. It invites us to examine aspects of the social environment that we often ignore, neglect, or take for granted. By studying sociology we can achieve a better grasp of how our society is organized, where power lies, what beliefs channel our behavior, and how our society has come to be what it is. Sociology provides a unique perspective that encourages us to look behind the outer aspects of social life and discern its inner structure – to suspend the belief that things are simply as they seem. Sociology equips us with a special form of consciousness this consciousness helps us to better understand the social forces we confront, especially those that constrain us and free us. By looking at social arrangements in imaginative and fresh ways, we gain a new vision of the social experience. The old, familiar, and even comfortable ways we have for viewing life change. We find that the society into which we are born shapes our identities, personalities, emotions, thought processes and fortunes in countless ways. Indeed, the structures of society become the structures of our own consciousness. Another reason for studying sociology is that, by understanding the society in which we live, we can gain fuller insights into ourselves.
Critically thinking about our own personal experiences often leads us to important sociological questions. The questions we ask about society and sociology determine the answers we get. Ask a good critical question, and you have pointed the search for an answer in the right direction. Ask a misleading question, and the answer, even if quickly and correctly discovered, is still misleading. Thus, the ability to frame the right question is an important component of critical thinking.
http://web.utk.edu/~scable/soc120.htm
http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2013/05/to-commit-sociology.html
Joey Meyer
Parents on Study Habits
Thinking Sociology
I was looking up some Sociology topics and I stumbled onto a topic about parents boosts exams score not the school by study habits. It was said that “Parents who help with homework and attend school events can outweigh the effect of weak schools, according to researchers in America.” Dr Parcel, a professor of sociology, said parents "should invest time in their children, checking homework, attending school events and letting kids know school is important. That's where the payoff is." From the article I found said researches had data on 10,000 teenagers.
The researchers found that peoples whose families were supportive of their education and involved in school life but attended weaker schools performed better academically than students who attended effective schools but whose families were disengaged. "In other words, while both school and family involvement are important, the role of family involvement is stronger when it comes to academic success," explained Dr Parcel. I believe this I have never really thought about it tell now but my mother and father thought me key ways to study and it helped me get through high school with good grades. In the same way though my younger brother didn’t get as well from my parents and he has always struggled with studying. So I think it could be the brain but parents do help a lot if you are willing to listen to them.
“The researchers say that children gain benefits - social capital - from both school and their family relationships. They set out to define which was more important in boosting children's exam results, analyzing data on 10,585 teenagers from 1,000 randomly selected secondary schools collated by the US National Longitudinal Educational Study.” School has helped me in a lot of ways to gain skills in class but my parents came in to help with the studying for those skills to keep them. The researchers defined the most important factors in the relationship between parents and children as trust, good communication and active engagement in a child's academic life. I had trust in my father for the most part he was very successful in school and I trusted in him to help me be as successful. We have always butted heads with doing homework though. We’re so alike it makes it hard because you both think you’re right.
“They also defined effective schools as those with the ability to serve as a positive environment for learning, involving students in extra-curricular activities, strong teacher morale and the ability of teachers to address the needs of individual students.” Scott city really helped me with the information on the quote I just stated. They required you to do 5 hours of community service a year and got me into a lot of programs in the school. That ended on carrying onto college where I have received the honors to be a RA and an Ambassador next year.
The authors suggest more support for good parenting practices would help shrink social divides. They cite previous research which has argued that middle class and working class or poor children experienced "unequal childhoods". See I don’t see it’s the parent’s irresponsibility to take classes to help kids have better studying habits. Parents that want their children to be successful will have to build that trust with their child to help them grow with their study habits.
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-19923891
http://voices.yahoo.com/good-study-habits-parents-help-kids-all-year-355252.html
Bryley Roper
Ethnic diversity and race
Race and ethnicity play a major role in society. Race plays a major role in every day human interactions. An ethnic group is a social category of people who share a common culture, such as a common language, a common religion, or common norms, customs, practices, and history. Ethnic groups have a consciousness of their common cultural bond. An ethnic group does not exist simply because of the common national or cultural origins of the group, however. They develop because of their unique historical and social experiences, which become the basis for the group’s ethnic identity. For example before migration to the Unites States Italians, Germans, French and many other countries did not distinguish them as a distinct ethnicity with common interests and experiences, but as the migration has spread around the world each ethnic background has become more distinct from other countries.
Race is also a structurally constructed category like ethnicity. A race is a group that is treated as distinct in society based on certain characteristics. Because of their biological or cultural characteristics, which are labeled as inferior by powerful groups in society, a race is often singled out for differential and unfair treatment. Society assigns people to racial category not because of fact or science, but because of social experience. People are often treated differently just because the social status that they have been labeled as. A minority group is any distinct group in society that shares common group characteristics and is forced to occupy low status in society because of prejudice and discrimination. A group may be classified as a minority on the basis of ethnicity, race, sexual preference, age, or class status.
One of the main things Sociologists look at is why racism, discrimination and prejudice exist. There are 3 main theories of why racism exists and is so strong in all societies around the world. Functionalist Theorists argue that in order for race and ethnic relations to be functional and contribute to the harmonious conduct and stability of society, racial and ethnic minorities must assimilate into that society. Assimilation is a process in which a minority becomes absorbed into the dominant society – socially, economically, and culturally.
The second kind of theory is the Symbolic interaction Theory. This Theory states that you look at two issues in relation to race and ethnicity. First, they look at the role of social interaction and how it reduces racial and ethnic hostility. Second, they look at how race and ethnicity are socially constructed. In essence, symbolic interactionists ask the question, “What happens when two people of different race or ethnicity come in contact with one another and how can such interracial or interethnic contact reduce hostility and conflict”?
The third and final theory about why their is so much racism and discrimination is made by the conflict theorists. This theory states that class based conflict is an inherent and fundamental part of society. These theorists thus argue that racial and ethnic conflict is tied to class conflict and that in order to reduce racial and ethnic conflict, class conflict must first be reduced.
Societies are the main reason why their is so much racism and discrimination in the world. People have always grown up in a society that does not accept or like someone and has taught them to have hate in their hearts instead of loving everybody equally no matter what. I think if we cut the social labels that each person gets and realize they are all human the word would be a way better place
because with the way people migrate now days we will always have to deal with someone different then us.
http://sociology.about.com/od/Disciplines/a/Sociology-Of-Race-Ethnicity.htm
https://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/race.html
Zach Mann
Divorce and How it Effects Children
Divorce is a big thing these days. A lot of family’s have troubles staying together. It is hard to keep a relationship working. That’s why there are many divorces and break-ups. Most children will have problems with a divorce unless the parents were always fighting and angry.
So how are children affected by divorce? The answer is not simple, which is one reason for much confusion.
First of all, divorce is almost always stressful for children. Most children do not want their parents to separate, unless the marriage was full of intense conflict and anger or other sources of misery not suitable for children. Divorce also can strain parent-child relationships, lead to lost contact with one parent, create economic hardships, and increase conflict between parents.
Most children have a hard time during the divorce transition. How long the transition lasts depends upon on how calm or how chaotic you and your ex make it. Parents who do a good job managing the stresses of divorce for children often are surprised by how quickly their kids make the adjustment.
Divorce clearly increases the risk that children will suffer from behavioral problems. Troubled children are particularly likely to develop problems with anger, disobedience, and rule violations. School achievement also can suffer. Other children become sad for prolonged periods of time. They may become depressed, anxious, or become perhaps overly responsible kids who end up caring for their parents instead of getting cared for by them.
Whatever your children's age - because even adult children are affected - the impact of a divorce can be one of the most life changing and distressing things that will happen to a child. However, the impact does depend to some extent on how you and your partner handle it.
Each year over a million children suffer the divorce of their parents and by 1999, half of all American children reaching their eighteenth birthday and who were born to married parents will have experienced the divorce of their parents.
A divorce is painful, regardless of your specific circumstances. It's therefore particularly important to understand its effects on children. I hope we can help out divorced parent’s children, and they can have more support from others so they have more of a chance to not have bad behaviors and anger problems.
http://emeryondivorce.com/how_divorce_affects_children.php
http://www.professional-counselling.com/how-does-divorce-affect-children.html#.U2hyYe4o5dg
Jared Johnson
Wrestlers Identity
In the world of sports, Athletes are grouped by the sport they do. Each athlete like wrestlers, baseball players and Basketball players are all think differently of. People think of wrestlers different then they do as they think of basketball players. Baseball Players have a different identity then wrestlers do. They all stay to their own sports, they don’t like to wonder off from each other. It seems like on Colby campus wrestlers are looked as partiers, fighters and a little different.
People look at wrestlers with different views. Wrestlers are looked at as tough and meaner of the sports. Through Colby people see us as assholes and mean to other people. That we talk a lot of shit and how we are always trying to fight. People just don’t understand us I guess. Wrestlers don’t walk around cocky but with a confidence because they were always coached to win, that they were the best. When you wrestle you just seem better than everybody else because you know that you go through the hardest practice and that you work 10x harder than anybody else. Wrestlers don’t walk around wanting to fight or to start anything. But when someone says something, wrestlers are not scared to speak their mind or back up their opinion. They are not scared to fight anybody, no matter the size, because every day is a fight for them in practice and they fear nobody. So when other people starting talk bad to one of us, we are not scared to fight. We don’t always want to fight but sometimes we do. Those are really rare occasions. If people don’t talk shit or give lip to a wrestler then they would be best friends. Wrestlers are some of the politest and nicest athletes around.
In a lot of viewers mind they think wrestling is a gay sport and that all wrestlers are gay. People think that all we do is put our hands into our opponents junk and shower naked with each other. Well people can keep thinking that wrestler/wrestlers are gay because if you truly knew the sport then they would know that it’s the toughest sport to mankind. Nobody trains like us, has the mentality like us, and the desire to win like a wrestler do. So people can say what they want, but they will never know the struggles wrestlers go through.
On the Colby campus a lot of students and faculty members see the wrestlers has drinkers and how all we do is party all the time. Which sometimes that is true but we are not the low life losers that the drinking makes us look like. We do drink and we do party. But when we do we are not out going wild through town drinking and driving or tearing up the town. We are smart and polite about it. Just because we drink doesn’t mean we are terrible kids who are trouble makers. We do go to twisters and we like to dance. We like to go to hays, party with the Fort Hays state wrestlers and we like to drink. But since we drink and party, the students and faculty think of us as losers and trouble makers. Colby is a boring town….what else are we supposed to do?
—-
Dewald De Klerk
Identity of a mother
There are thousands of parents in the world today, thousands of mums, yet there are still few
mothers around thesunderstood by society. A mum is someone who gave birth to a
child. Someone who endured the grueling months of pregnancy and suffered through the painful
birth process in order for their little bundle of joy to this world. As hard as that is, that is the
smallest sacrifice any mum makes.your baby is crying or needs to be fed or changed. This is when it
becomes evident whether you are a mum or a mother. A mother is the type of woman who will
always put their children before herself. A mother is a woman that holds the lives of her children
close to her heart and does everything in her power to ensure that they have the brightest future
possible. Many people believe that the birthing process is the biggest sacrifice a mother makes
for her children but as I stated earlier, it is only the beginning.
As i was reading the Crossway blog, my eyes were opened severely to the things that I
had experienced all my life and never noticed what was really happening in front of me. In this
guest post by Jessica Thompson, she explains many of the mental aspects of motherhood and
the various effects it can have on a mothers mental state. For example, in a survey conducted
shortly prior to May 12,2012, many mothers admitted to feeling inadequate, feeling like a failure,
feeling like what they were doing was doing more harm than good. This can be a real problem as
the feeling of failing the young children that depend on their mother, can have a severe effect on
how mothers view of herself and her own life.
After reading this blog, i realized that I have noticed similar things in my own household
with my mother and my sister. I remember the feeling of seeing my mother cry when I came
home from school and she had received a call from the principal telling her that I had
misbehaved that day at school. The look my mother gave me soon changed from a look of anger
to a look of disappointment. This was the hardest thing I have had to deal with since I knew my
mother was upset because of me. Looking into her eyes I could tell that she blamed herself for
what had happened. I remember overhearing my mother telling my sister that she wishes she
had done a few things differently while I was growing up. She said that she feels like if she had
done some things differently, maybe I wouldn’t be getting in trouble so frequently. Hearing those
words from my mother really hit home. It showed me that mothers take more responsibility for
the things that happen in their children’s lives than most people realize.
I conducted some further research and found and found an article written by Tina GamesEvans
and I realized that for many mothers, although being a mother is a big part of their
lives, it is not their only ambition in life and it is not their only passion. Being a mother has serious
responsibilities and one of these being sacrificing certain activities or passions to facilitate their
child. Therefore it is very important for mothers to focus on who they were before their child was
born so that they don’t lose sight of who they are and what they stand for. Yes children changes
people and how they think, yet children shouldn’t change who someone is.
Crossway blog
article written by Tina GamesEvans
Who Am I?
By: Kendra Trussel
-A person’s social identity is simply how they see themselves and how others see them. It is something that you can change and generally changes many times in your life before you become the adult that you would like to become. Some characteristics of a social identity are who you choose to hang out with in school. Most of the time people are generally put into categories without even knowing they are doing so. We do this by having a certain style, certain beliefs that set us apart from other people. A social identity helps make you who you are.
We may not think that we change our style according to the way other people do, but we generally do. Style is something that is in at the certain time so it changes frequently, and people tend to change with it. This is also what helps us find friends. Everyone wants to believe they are such an individual and we are but not usually by the way we dress. Most of the time we dress a certain way because we saw someone else dressed like that, or got an idea from somewhere else. This is a good and bad thing in my eyes, it helps us have a format. It allows people to be in a realm of people that they may have more in common with just based off the style of clothing that they choose to wear. On the other hand this makes things hard for people who choose to dress a certain way but can get a long with anyone. Lots of people tend to judge people by what they are wearing, and not take the time to really get to know them if they are not wearing something that they think they would wear.
Another way to have social identity is to stand up for what your beliefs are and to have your own way of thinking of things. If you make up your own opinions about certain things it sets you apart from the rest of the crowd and allows you to make a more valid stand on issues that life may throw at you. Having beliefs that you stand by is also an easy way to make friends, when people believe in the same nature of things they are more likely to be drawn to you, or people who share the same ideas because it is easier for them to relate to you. There are many groups that you can belong to that allows people who have similar beliefs as you come together and share these ideas, this helps start friendships. Most of the time if you have a good idea of who you are and what you believe in than you are more likely to have friends that do as well because you are more drawn to people that know who they are and are not afraid to be that person, that is very important I believe.
Its hard to say that just these things make up your social identity because your social identity is simply who you choose to be and how you choose to portray yourself. Just being yourself and being comfortable in your own skin and the person you have become is the easiest way to find your identity in my opinion, friends and social groups will come after that.
http://www.bethinking.org/human-life/postmodernism-and-the-question-of-identity
http://www.slideshare.net/ChristieBarakat/social-identity-theory-11854992
—-
Collin Stacha
Social identity is a big part of who we are and a part of that is our health and taking
care of our bodies. Working out is a big passion for many people, including me.
Statistics show that 49.6% of Americans exercise on a regular basis. It's not just a
hobby, but a lifestyle for many who take it serious enough. A lot goes into living a fit,
healthy lifestyle and you will find it takes a lot of dedication and determination. One
of the biggest aspects that comes with this lifestyle is diet.
Diet is 70% of how your body will look and how you will feel. When I was 19, I
had already been working out for over a year but had barely put on any weight which
wasn't my goal. I was trying to get as big as possible but was unexpectedly just staying
really lean. I started learning more about the lifestyle and became more knowledgable
about it. I thought that it was possible to have a very clean diet and put on size at the
same time. At the time I was eating meals like grilled chicken and broccoli and brown
rice, which is what all the pro bodybuilders eat and they are huge. What I've learned is
that it's impossible to put on muscle when you're at a caloric deficit or maintaining
bodyweight and the clean foods I was eating only worked for guys like pro bodybuilders
because they are on steroids. Bodybuilders and people who workout that are natural with
no performance enhancing drugs have to have a completely different diet when trying to
put on size. This is called bulking and the diet is not anywhere near the same as
professional bodybuilders. When bulking you basically eat whatever you want while still
making sure to get an adequate amount of protein throughout the day. This will allow you
to be in a caloric surplus, being able to put on muscle along with weight. With all the
weight that will be put on, most of it will be fat but muscle and strength will also come
along with it because those extra calories turn into energy that fuel your workouts. So
for instance, I bulked all the way up to 252 lbs throughout a 5 month period. Then, I
changed my diet to cut back down and get rid of all the extra fat, and in 3 months was
back down to 215 lbs. So I probably put on 10-15 lbs of muscle in that short amount of
time compared to basically putting on nothing that first year I was working out trying to
stay lean. When you are trying to stay lean though, you need to make sure that you do
stay away from the unhealthy fatty fried foods. It's best to stick with grilled meat, and
a lot of vegetables and foods with good carbs so that your body can produce the cleanest
energy because you're is barely getting enough calories as it is.
All in all, these are just a few things I've learned about dieting over the past
3 years I've been working out and this is what has worked for me. Everyone is a little
different so most people have to find out what works best for them but these are the
general guidelines for a bodybuilders diet.
Resources:
http://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/bulking-diet-delusion
http://www.illpumpyouup.com/articles/food-vs-supplements.htm
My own per
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Raheem Brown
Social Identities
Social Identification is the process by which we define ourselves in terms and categories that we share with other people. In contrast to characterizations of personal identity, which may be highly idiosyncratic, social identities assume some commonalities with others.
“Identity” is a term that is widely used and, as a consequence, can mean many different things to different people. Identity is sometimes used to refer to a sense of integration of the self, in which different aspects come together in a unified whole. This intra-psychic emphasis is often associated with Erik Erikson, who introduced the term “identity crisis” as part of his stage model of psychological development. Another common use of the term, particularly in contemporary times, is identity politics, where the reference is typically to different political positions that are staked out by members of ethnic and nationality groups
Many forms of social identity exist, reflecting the many ways in which people connect to other groups and social categories. In our own work, we have pointed to five distinct types of social identification: ethnic and religious identities, political identities, vocations and avocations, personal relationships, and stigmatized groups (see Table I). Each of these types of social identification has some unique characteristics that make it somewhat different from another type. Relationship identities, in particular, have some special features. To be a mother, for example, can imply a sense of shared experience with other people who are mothers. Sometimes particular aspects of these experiences can be defined even more finely, as in Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). At the same time, the identity of mother implies a specific role relationship with another person, a relationship that is unique and grounded in one’s own personal experience with that other person.
Other social identities can be defined more generally, tied not to any individual but to a generic group. Thus to identify as a doctor, for example, implies a shared definition with countless others, many of whom you may not know anything in particular about. Another defining characteristic of occupational identities is that they are chosen by the person (what is sometimes called an achieved status). In contrast, social identities such as ethnicity or gender are ascribed categories, given to one at birth. Social identities also differ in the status or value that is attached to them.
One’s gender—most typically as a man or woman—is one of the most frequently mentioned identities when people are asked to describe themselves, and it is also one of the categories most often used by others to describe us. Similarly, the development of gender identity has been a central topic for developmental psychologists. Because gender is such a fundamental category, it is perhaps not surprising that a great many meanings and implications are associated with gender. Personality traits (e.g. being competitive or being aware of the feelings of others), role behaviors (e.g., taking care of children or assuming leadership roles), physical characteristics (e.g., having broad shoulders or a soft voice), and a host of other associations can be linked to gender categories.For many people, ethnicity is a central element of self-definition and becomes an important social identity. In the past, social scientists categorized human beings in terms of basic racial categories, such as Asian, Caucasian, and Negroid. With increasing awareness of the arbitrary nature of the social construction of race, these categories are less frequently used. More common today is categorization on the basis of ethnicity, defined in terms of culture, language, and country of origin. Works by theorists such as William Cross on African American identity exemplify the approach to this form of categorization and identification
www.socialidentities.com
www.simplypsychology.org
Madison Rogers
Jewish Beliefs
When learning about a religion one of the first questions people ask is: What do members of that religion believe? Although it is difficult to capture the beliefs of every single member of a faith, usually there are overarching tenets that most members of the group adhere to in some fashion. The same can be said of Judaism. However, it is important to note that Judaism does not have an official credo that all Jews must accept in order to be Jewish. Judaism is not a religion of absolutes. Judaism is a monotheistic faith, meaning that Jews believe there is only One God. Often this God is beyond our ability to comprehend, but God is nevertheless present in our everyday lives. Some Jews connect with God through prayer, others see the divine in the majesty of the natural world, others may not think about God on a daily basis. Each individual's relationship with God is unique and personal. Judaism teaches that every person (Jewish and non-Jewish) was created "b'tzelem Elohim," which is Hebrew for "in the image of God." For this reason every person is equally important and has an infinite potential to do good in the world. People have the freewill to make choices in their lives and each of us is responsible for the consequences of those choices. Judaism believes that Jews are uniquely connected with each other. Regardless of where we live in the world, all Jews are part of a global Jewish community. The Torah is Judaism's most important text. The fundamentals of the Jewish faith are rooted in the Hebrew Bible. It contains stories and commandments that teach us about life and death. It contains the 10 Commandments as well as the 613 commandments (mitzvot). All Jews consider the 10 Commandments to be the most important commandments in the Torah, though not all Jews adhere to the 613 mitzvot (one of the main differences between the different branches of Judaism).
The Ten Commandments:
I am the Lord your God
You shall not recognize the gods of others in my presence
You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain
Remember the day of shabbat to keep it holy
Honor your father and your mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor
You shall not covet your fellow's possessions
An additional belief is that everything that happens is ultimately for the good. Jewish lore is replete with stories of how the actions of grandparents and great-grandparents affected their descendants many years later. The bottom line and unifying theme of all of these beliefs is that God is one and everything comes from Him, whether it is obviously good or ostensibly bad. All of the other beliefs stem from this overarching and unifying statement. Judaism may be a complex religion with many different practices and observances, but its basic belief system is rooted in simplicity.
http://www.essortment.com/basic-jewish-religious-beliefs-42625.html
http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/beliefs.htm
Raheem Brown
Cultural Knowledge and Beliefs
The question assumes that beliefs and knowledge are linked to culture. You can argue that there is knowledge which is independent of culture, but as you communicate your ideas using language you are necessarily translating your ideas to symbols (words) that are shaped by culture. You should recognize the impossibility to communicate ideas without cultural context in your essay and develop it as one of the knowledge issues. Knowledge can be acquired through sense perception, logical operations (reason) and emotional reactions. This type of knowledge in its basic form is generated by biological responses to stimuli, and could be regarded as independent of culture. We know for example that facial expressions of basic emotions are biologically determined not learned. Our knowledge acquired through senses, emotions and reasoning may initially be private, but get shaped by the environment. Through interaction with the environment and cultural osmosis we learn concepts, ways of thinking, norms, values and language. Although culture does not completely determine our thinking it shapes it to a large degree and language plays an important role in this. "Culture" refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, actions, customs, beliefs and institutions of racial, ethnic, social, or religious groups. Every culture has beliefs about health, disease, treatment, and health care providers. People from the many immigrant cultures, as well as American Indians, bring their beliefs, and the practices that accompany them, into the health care system. This often proves challenging to health care professionals who have been trained in the philosophy, concepts, and practices of Western medicine. People within any cultural group are not homogeneous, even though they may hold many beliefs, practices, and institutions in common. Messages and materials must respect the variations within cultural groups. Some of the major areas of difference within groups include educational level, English language proficiency, financial resources, adherence to folk customs and beliefs, sexual orientation, geographic location, health status, and preferred language.
http://www.ils.unc.edu/~losee/b5/node9.html
http://www.tieonline.com/view_article.cfm?ArticleID=15
Drinking Expectation
by Cateline Isely
You walk through those double doors, nervous and small. You hold your lunch box like you used to hold your teddy bear and you don’t know what to do, how to react and face the world before you. But you’re excited as can be.
What you don’t think, on your first day of school, is about how you feel when you have your last day of school. You don’t realize how, after a few years, you’re like every other school going kid, just counting down until you can leave. You don’t realize that you’re stepping into a place where, if you don’t blend in, you stand out and, by standing out, you risk standing alone. More than likely, before graduation, that kid standing there will be another teenager at some loud music party, bottle in hand, drinking underage, maybe even more than drinking. It’s not even that the drink will taste amazing, not even that the kid will want to be drunk. No. It’s a matter of what it takes, now, to be a teenager.
The matter of underage drinking has been an issue that is, since being raised to twenty one opposed to eighteen, merely increasing. Where drinking in teenagers used to be restricted to the older teenagers it seemed, now, according to statistics published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the drinking age has dropped drastically. The idea of being the rebel so appeals to the mind of a teenager that, as they drink, they probably don’t realize that they aren’t the rebels that they really believe themselves to be.
Even though law enforcement has been attempting to crack down on these underage drinkers, it seems to drive the want to do drink even more. If it’s off limits, there’s a time in everyone’s life where you just want to cross that line. We’ve all heard that rules were made to be broken and, by instating so many rules, what if we are proving just that? What if by setting an age limit, it is just encouraging trouble?
We work as a pack and follow the person with the idea that, to us, is most likely to be accepting of us. Everyone goes through the stage of wanting to be the wild one, the bad kid in the leather jacket because it’s always those people who don’t seem to have rules or concerns. They’re that leader that most people strive to be like and what easier way to be like them than to drink like them? It’s following that “bad” role to achieve that fiery appeal that you’ve longed for and that society forbids you to have. And, to top it off, what better way to think you can do anything than to lose proper use of the brain through alcohol?
Most teenage auto accidents happen either when texting or drunk. One of the two is pretty caused by the law. If a teenager has been drinking, most times they won’t call for a parent to pick them up and public transport is off limits to them so they think that they’re safe getting behind the wheel of their vehicle. Wrong. They’re just as dangerous under age as someone over age. More dangerous, in fact, because they are probably more likely to have drank more in order to be “cool” as they’ve been pressured into more and more. It’s hard, as an adolescent, to say no more. You don’t want to be that coward. It’s not okay to be laughed at.
As a teenager myself, I look around me at the people drinking and driving home and just shake my head. There’s no point in an age limit. If someone wants a drink, they’re going to find a way to get it, end of story. Still, we think that we can scare them out of it when, in all truth, we just encourage the glorious appeal of being the rebel. If we were being really smart, we would merely encourage people to give up their keys when they drank, have free transportation, and stop giving them the idea that they’re the leather jacket hotshot. Laws, in the eye of the rising generations, always look best broken.
http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm
Make it Positive
By: Kendra Trussel
Our society today, is forgetting more and more everyday about the importance on sex and the effects it has on people who don’t wait until marriage. It is becoming a cultural norm that teenagers start having sex at a younger age and have multiple partners by the time they are in their twenties. The average age teenagers start having sex in between the ages of 13 and 15, and thats with them having an average of 3 partners. This is an extremely scary thought to me because that means the chances of girls getting pregnant younger and having them not finish high school possibly and not attend college. These statistics are becoming higher and higher as the years go on, and no one seems too concerned. Thats sad.
Statistics show that parents know that kids are having sex at a younger age but most of them do not believe that their child is one of those statistics. Parents are becoming more and more naive. And when parents do talk to their teens about sex, the most common way to go about it is to scare them so much about how horrible getting pregnant is and how mad your dad will be that they either don’t take it too seriously or they don’t understand that sex can be the most amazing thing once you find the right person to share that with. I think teens should be scared about the emotional part that comes with sex rather than pregnancy. Sex is a very special activity that should be embraced by married couples or even couples that have spent a great deal of time together and are planning on marriage. With the ways that parents explain and give sex education talks it makes it seem like sex is scary and bad when really parents should just explain to them that is amazing and beautiful when you do it with a person you love and are planning on spending your whole life with. Teens should be excited about sex but they should be excited to wait and find that person that will make it something special with you.
I blame the fact that our society doesn’t make it seem like an important and sacred activity is what doesn’t put the pressure on teenagers to keep themselves for someone later in life. Teenagers watch movies, listen to songs, and read magazines where everything is all about sex and sexual things. This puts pressure on teenagers, making them think that having sex and bouncing around from person to person is what is cool to do. And when one person is doing it everyone wants to do, friends put pressure on their other friends and make it seem like its the cool and in thing to do. Parents need to take responsibility for their teens actions, and not always exspect other people or their schools to teach them these things.
Sex education in schools is happening but schools don’t teach the religious, and emotional sides to saving your self for the right person. They teach teens about STD’s and how to prevent pregnancy. But it is the parents responsibility to make them realize what they are getting themselves into other than the negative things like diseases, and babies. Parents and teens are not taking these things into consideration until after their teens are already pregnant or regret the things and decisions that they are making. We need to stop scaring teens and teach them about the positive things that sex has to offer when you wait for the right person.
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/parents/136?task=view
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/info-for-teens/relationships/talking-your-parents-about-sex-33822.htm
Dakota Kohler
American Culture
Culture is a very unique topic because it is all relevant to the eye of the beholder. As you gaze upon the lives of others you notice things that differ from your own and the variance between your lives shows the slight cultural differences. Culture isn’t just, as most people think, dependent on what country you’re from. However, this is probably the situation with the most notable differences between peoples lives, but culture changes from place to place just within the United States and slowly funnels down to noticeable cultural differences between households.
Looking at culture through a global perspective I can see many things that I disagree with and because the values and goals of other countries don’t make sense to me. The things that other countries deem important are extremely different from what I value as important. That is at least until I take a closer look at the situation. In many cases of global issues I see that we want the same things in respect to the basic values of how we want life to be we just have extremely different ways of getting there. It’s this way of getting there that doesn’t make sense, but that’s because we’ve grown up with different ways of doing things.
Culture differs throughout America is a less apparent way, but one that is still obvious. The norms in California, New York, and Colorado are different from what I have known, but these differences are easy to accept, at least some of them. In the U.S. the culture between east coast and west coast is definitely different, and it’s the same with the north and the south, and then we have our home here in the mid-west that is still separate from those other categories.
On a more local level, cultural differences are evident too. I can notice little things between my suite mates and I that reflect the way we were raised, even though it was in a similar way, and in the same area of the country. But we each have our own culture that we have brought to the suite and from that we have created a new culture, whether we notice it or not but it’s our own little niche on campus. Our suite differs from our friend’s suite even though they were raised in the same fashion. They have just pieced their cultures together a little differently.
I don’t think people, especially in our part of the country, realize the differences that effect their neighbors, co-workers, teammates, and friends. We have all grown up with different values instilled into our minds on how society should work and function, and the recognition of this is how we can avoid conflict and build stronger relationships.
Culture, Knowledge and Belief
Bioengineering
Nakita Schneider
In today’s world, the study and technology of genetic engineering has become ridiculously impressive. Ethically speaking, there are so many things that technology has and is allowing us to do with our bodies, minds, and future choices. It’s up to society, the nation and our world to figure out whether it’s right or not. However, regardless of what we think, it’s going to continue to become more practiced and advanced.
Throughout history, stem cell research has been a heavily studied subject and commonly used resource for terminal illnesses and transplants. We’ve come to know that stem cells have the ability to become whatever cell they are surrounded with and assigned to become. They’ve saved lives and transformed illnesses, but we’ve only become more and more advanced since then. According to GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) we now have had the successful ability to take stem cells from a human and used them in monkeys to repair damage and produce healing.
In the last decade, we’ve come up with more technological advances than ever imagined. We’ve created a human brain the size of a walnut and are contemplating putting it into a rat for the use of military spies. Military technology is even more advanced in the sense that they are creating working robots, microchips inserted into brains and human/animal creatures to preform experimentations on. They’ve created neon colored rabbits and mice by inserting certain chemicals into their bloodstream.
Also, we’ve had experiences with genetic engineering when it comes to offspring and fetal development. We’ve been able to screen DNA of fetuses to see if they may have any certain disabilities such as cleft lip or palate, Down syndrome and even autism. Scientists now have the ability to take out any teratogens that may cause a defect in a fetus and can even narrow it down to the fetus being male or female. Today’s argument is, whether it’s right or wrong. It’s true that many believe any kind of screening or removal of any kind of genetics in a fetus is playing God. Many agree that it’s immoral and unethical to perform such a task especially when religion is involved. Others argue that it’s for the parents’ and child’s own benefit when it comes to certain defects. If there is a way to prevent a child from having autism or Down syndrome, many parents are going to be in favor of science taking control. It’s more understandable to have a defect taken out of the gene code rather than an ‘X’ or ‘Y’ chromosome. If you’re meant to have a boy then have it, if you’re meant to have a girl, have it. Many, along with myself, think it’s immoral and unethical to have a sex selection for your child. In my opinion, if you can have a child, you should be greatful to get what you get, boy or girl. Although, others may think differently in the sense that they want to carry on a family name and they “need” a boy or a girl in order to do that. Still, I’m not sure that it should be anyone’s first option when it comes to having a child.
All in all, the medical world is changing and advancing day-by-day. There’s almost nothing that’s impossible to do anymore and with enough time, I believe we are going to have robots in our daily lives. In the next 50 years, I believe there is going to be an extreme advance in technology and medicine. Scientists are going to be able to insert chips into human brains that will transfer to a computer. Our lives and everything that is involved in them will be connected to computers and we will forever have new advantages in our daily lives.
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/stem-cells-from-humans-repair-heart-damage-in-monkeys/81249813/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/opinion/genetically-modified-babies.html?_r=0
Media Taking Over America
By: McKenna Ortner
In America today there is no way to discuss communication without the word media or technology. Though communication is based on language and the meaning of words in that language, it has evolved into something much more advanced. We see the face-to-face communication less and less everyday because of all the new advancements being discovered not only in America, but also all over the world. We now see communication through recordings and transmitted sounds and images, otherwise known as media.
Media typically includes television, computers, newspapers, radio, and movies; however, it can also include paintings, books, and graffiti. The major contributor, in terms of media and communication, is the Internet. When on the Internet people can view and find almost any information they desire at the touch of a few buttons. This is because Internet users are able to post whatever where ever with in reason.
There is no restrictions to who can obtain a website. With that being said some of what you may find on the Internet may not be completely true. However, a lot is and has become convenient and helpful to those who have access. Media is not just affecting America by giving information. In fact social networking has become a daily use for most Americans today and plays a key role in our culture today.
Very few people in America can say they don’t have at least one social network account. Because of the increasing number of Americans with a smartphone or tablet with Internet capabilities, people are able to stay connected to others almost constantly. This is especially true for teens and young adults who would rather send a message or a picture to their friends and family than meeting up to give them the message. Though many people think that it is just the young people that use sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. more and more older adults are getting their own accounts in order to stay easily connected with family and friends they may not be able to stay in close contact with all of the time.
While all of this can be helpful and keep people in the know with others, it also is leading to other issues among its users. It has created a society where people see each other in person less and less because they are able to just call them or message them at anytime. Because of the lack of social interaction people are becoming poor communicators. Anyone can portray the person they want to be or want people to see by what they post or send to friends and family. With that being said people are not able to really know how the person they are talking to really feels which in itself can become a really issue. For example anyone can say that they are ok or fine when you ask how they are doing over a text or an instant message even when they may not be. However, when the same question is asked in person it is much harder to lie because that person will show body language without even noticing. Therefore, people need a certain amount of social interaction in their lives every once in a while.
Another area where the technology and media put people at a disadvantage is in the workplace. Business is all about communicating. Growing up in a society where face-to-face communication is rare and usually limited kids do not find out how to communicate properly which can hurt them in a work setting and create a communication barrier.
Overall the society we live in today is full of media day and night. It is very helpful in the way we are able to find information and talk to people instantly. Yet at the same time we are losing the valuable skill of face-to-face communication, which is what the reality of our world still is from a professional standpoint.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susantardanico/2012/04/30/is-social-media-sabotaging-real-communication/
Fulcher, James and Scott, John. Sociology. Oxford University Press Inc. 2011. Print
The Dark Side of Social Media
By Jessica Moss
As of today. social media has become increasingly popular everyday. Teens, parents, and even teachers and coaches are using it. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter give people a sense of connection among large communities. However, connection based on an electronic environment can have a downside to it.
The sense of connection people feel with social media, is commonly false. Since people are so obsessed with facebooking, they can very well have a harder time developing meaningful relationships in the real world. In middle school and high school, cyber bullying is a great factor in social media. The reason for this is that social media makes it much easier for a perpetrator to bully a victim since they can do it anonymously, or pose as a friend with little effort. Severe emotional wounds can be caused by this, and some victims even go as far as to committing suicide.
According to a 2011 Consumer Reports poll, 7.5 million Facebook users are under the age of requirement to have an account on the website, 13. This can especially be a danger due to the fact it is not uncommon for sexual predators to seek these young children out on these types of websites. According to the F.B.I., half a million predators are online everyday. Many of them will send children pornographic material, and even try to meet them offline.
Kids that spent a lot of time on Facebook may also develop low self esteem issues. Because of the immaturity that goes along with middle school years especially, these children will often try to compare themselves to others, and even develop something called “Facebook Depression.” aka depression caused by seeing status and photo updates from other children that make them feel unpopular and/or excluded from their peers.
Digital footprints from these websites may also have a negative effect on the future lives of their young users. Career opportunities, personal relationships, etc. may all turn out not as well as they could have due to the fact what is posted on the internet is permanent, and the trace of it will always be there. This also ties in with the lack of privacy in one's personal life if they are very active on Facebook. Sensitive details about a user's life are likely going to be posted. Specifically, certain photos and status updates may turn off an employer when performing a background check on the user. Although networking sides typically have privacy settings, these are often not as effective as they appear to be.
Employers' legal risks are increased by how employees use social media websites. Ashley Payne, a former English teacher left her job after being confronted by school officials about pictures she posted on her Facebook which showed her drinking while on a European vacation. Payne filed a dismissal lawsuit, however at the time of publication the case remained unsolved.
Employers who manage to bypass privacy settings on an employee's Facebook page may face legal consequences. Two employees that were fired from a restaurant were awarded $3,403 in back pay and $13,009 in punitive damages after supervisors accessed their password-protected Myspace accounts. Both sides of this case resulted in being settled outside of court.
On the other hand of this issue, social media sites have benefits for those who use them as well. Users can easily communicate with acquaintances that they don't see very often, and also get more involved with their community. Both technical and social skills are necessary for living in this century, but just like all other things, the use of social media should purely be in moderation.
For More Information:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/social-networks-affect-underage-kids-11322.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/dangers-social-media-employers-25058.html
Social Organization And Control
Muneeb Usmani
Organizations:
Organizations are large secondary groups that are organized to achieve their goals efficiently. They are the product of rationalization of society, which means the acceptance of rules, efficiency, and practical results as the right way to approach human affairs.
Rationality:
Rationality was a totally different way of thinking that came to permeate society. This new orientation transformed the way in which society is organized. As a result organizations are designed to achieve explicit objectives, and it has become a central feature of contemporary society.
Organizations are social machine:
Organizations are deliberately created”social machines with human parts”. In these organizations social relations are impersonal, formal and planned. These organizations have major influence on the everyday lives of members of modern societies.
Types of Organizations:
Utilitarian Organizations: Everyone who works for income is member of utilitarian organization, which pays its members to perform the jobs for which they were hired. Large business enterprises, for example generate profits for their owners and salaries and wages for their employees.
Normative Organizations: People Join normative organizations not for income but to pursue goals they consider morally worthwhile. They are also called voluntary organizations. The interest of such organizations can be community services, social action, and environmental protection. They are concerned with specific social issues. Example can be Red Crescent, and World Wide Fund.
Coercive Organizations: These Organizations have involuntary membership. These are total institutions that feature very strict control of members by top ranked officials. Members are physically and socially separated from “outsider / civil society”. The examples can be prisons, psychiatric hospitals and military units.
Social Control:
Every society or group develops its mechanism for making its members to obey the norms for smooth functioning of its life. These are the attempts of society to regulate people’s behavior. This process may be formal or informal; it is referred to as social control. Hence social control is a group’s formal and informal means of enforcing norms.
Marissa Bland
Sociology MW
Beauty Pageants: The Ruination of Young Girls
Being a teenager myself, I know how hard it is to have beauty ads, magazines with airbrushed models gracing the covers, and the pressure of being thin and beautiful in my face. Thankfully, I never had to deal with those kinds of pressures as a young kid. However, there are young children having to deal with those issues now while growing up.
Many parents put children in beauty pageants as an innocent gesture. They think their little girl will look cute in makeup and fancy dresses prancing around the stage. But what may seem innocent at the time can turn into big problems later on in the child’s life.
Young girls can start participating in beauty pageants as soon as they can sit up by themselves. Many young girls in beauty pageants now are flaunting fake eyelashes, fake tans, fake nails, caked on makeup, and hair extensions. What do all of these things have in common? They are fake. All fake.
Many people will argue that beauty pageants teach young girls to not have stage fright, give girls self-confidence to talk to people without being shy, and they become comfortable in front of large crowds. These are all good ideas and thoughts. But, what are we really teaching young girls by participating in beauty pageants? We are teaching them in order to win, you have to be fake. We are teaching girls that appearance is everything, and personality is not. We are teaching them that a person’s beauty comes from the outside, not the inside.
Dressing up as a little Barbie doll is telling girls they have to act and dress a certain way to gain approval from others. Through beauty pageants, they are learning to be someone they are not to win the attention of others. At such a young age, stress about dieting, appearance, body ideals, modeling, and trophies should not come into existence. Young girls should have the freedom to discover who they want to be and to respect and love the appearance that God gave them.
Sure, girls are interviewed on stage, giving answers to a panel of judges and creating poise. However, most of these answers are rehearsed beforehand. At the pageant, most young girls can be found looking at their mother after answering a question as if she’s looking for every bit of reassurance she can get. This is not showing the self-confidence people argue will come out of being in beauty pageants.
So, what are the damaging effects in the long run for these girls? Well, self-confidence and self-images will likely be hurt, and these girls will most likely be growing up way too soon. Many of the outfits that girls wear on stage at beauty pageants are provocative, while posing in sexual ways for the judges. Girls are learning to be sexual way before they ever need to be. After wearing these outfits and posing sexually, girls are judged on their appearance. This literal judgment at such a young age can ruin a girls self-esteem and sense of worth throughout her whole life. Girls are taught to be perfect, which can never be reached. However, this longing for protection can cause problems with a girls self-worth, causing her to think that natural beauty will never be enough.
Works Cited
Nussbaum, Kareen. “Beauty Pageants”. 6 May, 2014. <minorcon.org>.
Lindsey, Claire. “The Ugly Truth to Child Beauty Pageants”. 13 March, 2014. 6 May, 2014. <calpoly.uloop.com>.
Malmsio, Helene. “Child Beauty Pageants Pros and Cons”. 2014. 6 May, 2014. <helene-malmsio.squidoo.com>.
Dakota Kohler
American Culture
Culture is a very unique topic because it is all relevant to the eye of the beholder. As you gaze upon the lives of others you notice things that differ from your own and the variance between your lives shows the slight cultural differences. Culture isn’t just, as most people think, dependent on what country you’re from. However, this is probably the situation with the most notable differences between peoples lives, but culture changes from place to place just within the United States and slowly funnels down to noticeable cultural differences between households.
Looking at culture through a global perspective I can see many things that I disagree with and because the values and goals of other countries don’t make sense to me. The things that other countries deem important are extremely different from what I value as important. That is at least until I take a closer look at the situation. In many cases of global issues I see that we want the same things in respect to the basic values of how we want life to be we just have extremely different ways of getting there. It’s this way of getting there that doesn’t make sense, but that’s because we’ve grown up with different ways of doing things.
Culture differs throughout America is a less apparent way, but one that is still obvious. The norms in California, New York, and Colorado are different from what I have known, but these differences are easy to accept, at least some of them. In the U.S. the culture between east coast and west coast is definitely different, and it’s the same with the north and the south, and then we have our home here in the mid-west that is still separate from those other categories.
On a more local level, cultural differences are evident too. I can notice little things between my suite mates and I that reflect the way we were raised, even though it was in a similar way, and in the same area of the country. But we each have our own culture that we have brought to the suite and from that we have created a new culture, whether we notice it or not but it’s our own little niche on campus. Our suite differs from our friend’s suite even though they were raised in the same fashion. They have just pieced their cultures together a little differently.
I don’t think people, especially in our part of the country, realize the differences that effect their neighbors, co-workers, teammates, and friends. We have all grown up with different values instilled into our minds on how society should work and function, and the recognition of this is how we can avoid conflict and build stronger relationships.
http://www.telegraphcrossfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/american-flag-2.jpg
Social Organization & Social Control
By Tashia Malchow
Social organization is a way to classify things or people. We do this to better understand and try to learn what causes the people or things to fall into the groups we have created for them. Social control is how people are persuaded or convinced into doing things that they want or to think the same as they do. Social control can be done by many things, for example: media, money, and influence of popularity.
There are three main ways people are classified, which are by race, religions, and income. People are classified by race. An example of this is Asians are expected to be smart or Indians or thought to be only tech support. We classify people like this because people want to be better than the next person and this is why racism will never be abolished. The second main way people are classified is by religions. There are thousands of different types of religions. For example, Roman Catholic, Buddhism, Atheism, Protestant, Christianity. The reasons people are classified in religions is because certain religions required you to act or thing in certain ways. Then the third main reason people are classified is by income. People have always been classified into groups by the amount of income they make. These groups are most commonly called poor, middle class, and rich. Another example of this would be if you are considered a middle class person and you are in the room with a pop star, you would not be noticed and possible not even spoken to because the pop star makes more money than you do.
A couple of ways social control happens is by the media, money, and influence of popularity. Media consist of the radio, television, and the newspaper. The radio is one of the many ways to get important information out to the world. People listen to the radio for this information and the people at the radio station are given a script on what they can say. The radio stations controls as to what is being said so that they can persuade people to believe in certain political views.
Another common item people have in this century is a television or more commonly known as T.V. The television is a box with a screen that shows you high speed moving pictures. Televisions shows people disasters that have happened clear across the world, who the next president is going to be or con people out of their money by convincing them into buying products that they don’t need or to send them money to save an animal or child that you will never see or know if they are getting the money that was sent. Newspapers are another way of getting news out into the world. The newspaper is consist mostly of opinions of the editor or of people who have written to the newspaper.
Money is one of the most powerful social controls on the world. People strive to make money any way they can because this is the only way a person do what they want or get what they want. Money determines a person’s classification or statues in the world, but it can also destroy a person. An example of this is, if a person is a rich business man/woman people will find a way to blackmail or destroy their business so they can have that kind of money as well. Which takes me back to when I said people want to be better than the next person.
This is just some of the ways that social organization and social control affect people’s lives. People may think that they are different but in the information above people want to be better than the next person and that is the honest truth.
Work Cited:
Fulcher, James and Scott, John. Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2011.
Wealth Inequality in America
By David Dickerson
Part of my reason for deciding to return to school was that there seemed to be a slow but steady erosion in my level of income. More accurately, it seemed like I couldn’t afford as much even though my overall level of income has gradually increased. Fifteen years ago, when I first entered the work force full time, I could usually make enough money to pay my bills and still have enough left over for entertainment. Then, around five years ago, my entertainment surplus disappeared. Now, I typically end up short each month, and this in spite of the fact that I’m making more money than I did when I was eighteen. Admittedly, some of this could be due to the fact that my expenses have changed over the years (the Internet, for example, wasn’t the necessity that it has recently become), but I still felt that there was more at work than just that.
My research on the subject seems to bear out my hypothesis. According to data compiled by Emmanuel Sanchez, an economist at the University of California in Berkley, income for ninety-nine percent of the population has increased only 0.4 percent since 1980. Comparatively, income for the top one percent of the population has increased thirty-one percent. The overall average income per family has dropped by approximately $5,000 since 1999, and the number of American households with average income dropped from fifty percent to forty-two percent. Meanwhile, the top one percent has gone from controlling ten percent of all income to 22.5 percent. The 2008 financial crisis has caused this gap to widen even more. Since 2007, the top seven percent of households have had their overall income increase by twenty-eight percent, while the collective wealth of the other ninety-three percent has fallen by four percent. This is because most of the wealthiest households have their money in stocks and other financial assets, which have been rebounding, whereas the middle class has most of their assets in their home equity, which recently dropped and has yet to begin increasing again.
So, with that being the case, what do we do about it? There are a number of political solutions that have been proposed. Some economists believe that an increased minimum wage will increase the overall amount of money that lower income families have to spend, thus stimulating job growth. Others believe that government infrastructure improvement programs will generate more jobs. Still others believe that increased tax cuts for the rich and the deregulation of government will eventually generate more wealth for everyone. Then, of course, there is the “let it work itself out on its own” philosophy. However, in dealing with all things economic, the results will be typically too far down the road for any immediate effect to be visible regardless of how things are decided.
I believe that improving your income on a personal level is a far more effective way to deal with the problem than waiting for the government to get around to it. Typically, if they do manage to get the problem solved, the results will be more likely to benefit your children than yourself anyway. In the short term, however, there are a few ways that may be able to improve your personal income. The first and arguably most important of these is to increase your level of education and experience by any means available. It has been my observation that people with skills and experience have a better chance of being hired at any job. Also, income for college graduates increases at a faster rate than for people with just a high school degree. Another factor that seems to affect level of income is marriage stability. According to research, single-parent families are more likely to be poor and have a harder time increasing their overall wealth than two-parent families. Another useful piece of advice, at least in my experience, is to try to control your reliance on credit as much as possible. Often, it can be more beneficial to wait until you can afford something you want than to end up paying far more than it is worth in interest payments.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurapennington/2013/03/08/to-fix-income-inequality-the-have-nots-must-become-the-do-somethings/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wealth-gap-guide-why-matters-083657223.html;_ylt=A0LEVr9P6WdT0wEABYMPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBya3R2ZmV1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNARjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw—
Chase Pechin
A social inequality is a term used to describe a process which has an effect of limiting or harming a social status, class or circle of a specific group. Some specific inequalities are gender inequality, racial inequality, caste inequality, age inequality, class inequality and health inequalities. All which imply certain standards that limit and effect how a social group functions. Along with social inequality there is also social division, which means a group of people who have a similar status in social and economical views. These include lower, middle and upper class.
Gender inequality is when a certain individual or person discriminates on a specific gender. Women have been discriminated on for years. They have been discriminated against health, education and work. Because of the discrimination against women, they have been limited to the things that they can do which effects how they are viewed by others. Similar to gender inequality there is racial inequality. If someone is of another color other than white, they are immediately judged and looked down upon. This has caused much harm to these specific social groups and has greatly affected their status.
Caste inequality is another main inequality. This involves wealth of a family and how they are allowed to live their lives. This is mainly in the Hindu religion. Depending on whom your family is effects if you are allowed to achieve a higher job and live rich or have a cheap job and live in poverty. Another inequality is age. Many jobs and people limit a specific age group from being able to be similar to other ages. Employment is a big factor in this. Many jobs discriminate on young people because they feel that they don’t have the experience needed for the job.
Health inequalities are dependent on a person’s income. If you have a higher income you will most likely have a better chance of receiving health care. But if you make a lower income, your chances of having health care are a lot slimmer. The last inequality is class inequality. Depending on your economical status you are placed in certain classes. How much you make, who your family is all have factors of this. Doctors are placed in a better class then say a truck driver. Class inequality is related to social division because it ties into lower, middle and upper classes.
Money is a big factor in how you are viewed by people. If you make lots of money you are usually better liked and looked up to than someone who makes very little money. Lower class is usually the people living in poverty or extremely close to it. There annual income is usually are $20,000 - $25,000. There are two levels to the middle class, the first is the Lower-middle class, which is your lower white collared workers and people which a college education but not a high degree. These people tend to make $30,000 - $60,000 annually. Second, is the upper-middle class, which consists of higher white collared workers and post college graduates? They make either $100,000 or a little more annually. Last is the upper classes which are your lawyers and doctors who make $150,000 or more annually.
All of these inequalities and divisions effect or limit how a social group’s status is seen throughout other groups. We wouldn’t have the social inequalities or divisions today without the discrimination the world has towards specific individuals. There wouldn’t be different social groups or individual identities. We would all be judged the same are there wouldn’t be a difference between how someone sees specific individuals.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/gii
http://www.diversecymru.org.uk/age/
innocence to help change the future.
/Cole Schneider/
Looking at how far we as a society have come against racism is astonishing. We have had defining moments throughout history to make our world come together as a human race. Many examples like Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. leading rebellions against inequality. A monumental picture linked to a Martin Luther King Jr. rally sparked conversation across the nation involving the master plan by Wyatt Walker, the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization led by King.
Dr. Walker came up with a plan during a civil rights movement in Birmingham to bring the attention of the entire nation without lifting a finger himself. In fact none of the civil rights activists used any violence to outrage everyone who saw what was happening. Walker was able to organize Dr. King’s speeches that would attract hundreds of people to the town square, even attracting young African American youth to leave school to join the movement. It got so out of hand that the Birmingham police department began to become worried for the white people of the town. The police chief at the time Eugene “Bull” Connor was known to be racist and also had a plan of his own. He told his entire police crew that if the protests got rowdy or violent to start hosing the crowds with the fire hydrants. The crowds got large but Walker and King urged the followers not to break laws and become violent and they listened to what the leaders had to say. They were polite to everyone in the town center and didn’t break the law. This only made Bull Connor confused and frustrated. The “Bull” refused to be out smarted by those he thought were inferior to him. He tried to get the black crowds to act out and riot but there they sat, innocently in the town square peacefully protesting. While upset he demanded his staff bring out the hoses, in the hot summer day in Alabama the protesters laughed and played in the water. Connors had no other option, he requested the riot squads with dogs. There was no call for the dogs as it was only supposed to scare the protesters into fleeing. The dogs only caused unnecessary havoc as they started to bite the children who had left the school, being captured on film by photographers.
The point of this story that took place in 1964 is to show that when people are suppressed for so long the only option they have is to rebel. In this instance the rebelled peacefully and managed to bring the attention of others through the mistakes of those they were fighting against. The way they were able to trick the police into using brutal force to show how poorly they were treated. When the editor for the New York Times at the time the picture was released said he couldn’t show the pictures because it would outrage the entire country, he was right it would and it did. It was talked about throughout the government and was a major turning point in the civil rights movement. Walker and King used methods of sociology to spark the emotions of others around the world and get their point across without having to use force.
References:
http://www.amistadresource.org/LBimages/image_08_05_020_R07-2010.jpg
Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath; Chapter: 6
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